Rider schedules for 2016.

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Haven't you watched this years edition? He beated Quintana by over half a minute! You tend to underestimate Purito when it comes to a hard, technical and hilly TT.

I also think Purito will be the biggest rival for Contador in PV.

I agree: at this point in time, I think it'll be between Purito, Contador and Aru.

Aren't you just saying that because you like these three riders and not Landa?

After having won TA from with far-out attack, Landa is going to destroy them all in PV. He will defeat Contador in the mountains and get 2nd behind Alberto in the TT.

Remind me when:
a) Landa has attacked from far out (while being a marked man)
b) Done even a half decent TT

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

Haven't you watched this years edition? He beated Quintana by over half a minute! You tend to underestimate Purito when it comes to a hard, technical and hilly TT.

I also think Purito will be the biggest rival for Contador in PV.

I agree: at this point in time, I think it'll be between Purito, Contador and Aru.

Aren't you just saying that because you like these three riders and not Landa?

After having won TA from with far-out attack, Landa is going to destroy them all in PV. He will defeat Contador in the mountains and get 2nd behind Alberto in the TT.

Remind me when:
a) Landa has attacked from far out (while being a marked man)
b) Done even a half decent TT

Finestre!? Landa attacked Contador multiple times during the Giro and every time Contador intended to respond but had no answer to give.

Landa only needs to limit his losses in that tt. Which ain't impossible like Purito just showed this year on a less challenging course.

Landa ain't no darkhorse anymore, he's a true dangerman for the others.

 

[GuyIncognito]

It's the basque country. There are no mountains, only medium hills, the ones where Landa has always had trouble even in the 2015 Giro. He can only win by being given all the freedom in the world as he was in April. In 2016 he won't.
Sure there's a chance he'll gain time on everyone else in the climbs.....like there's a chance I'll win the lottery. It's technically possible.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Finestre!? Landa attacked Contador multiple times during the Giro and every time Contador intended to respond but had no answer to give.

Landa only needs to limit his losses in that tt. Which ain't impossible like Purito just showed this year on a less challenging course.

Landa ain't no darkhorse anymore, he's a true dangerman for the others.

But it wasn't exactly an audacious attack. It was the best place to attack, not something unexpected out of the blue (think Nibali, Purito & Sagan in 2013, or Nibali, Rui, Valverde and a couple of others who I've forgotten in Dauphine, or most of this year's Eneco Tour with Wellens especially). It was an obvious and foreseen attack, but Contador could not follow. He's aggressive, but won't do anything suicidal that might win him Tirreno, especially when Nibali is in the same race. He has never attacked from 40-50km out without knowing that it was the best option but also very, very safe; or a crazy attack a la Contador 2011 in the Tour.

 

[MatParker1711]

He doesn't need to do anything suicidal it's the first time in his career he'll have a dedicated climbing train working for him and after Benat, Nieve, Kennaugh & Kiri do the damage his attacks will be all the more effective.

 

[staubsauger]

Marco Pantani won Murcia in 99. That's the reference for Mikel Landani!

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

He doesn't need to do anything suicidal it's the first time in his career he'll have a dedicated climbing train working for him and after Benat, Nieve, Kennaugh & Kiri do the damage his attacks will be all the more effective.

Landa have very slim chance of winning Tirreno and zero chance of winning Pais Vasco, with or without any kind of train! He is a rider for the high mountains and three week races.

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

He doesn't need to do anything suicidal it's the first time in his career he'll have a dedicated climbing train working for him and after Benat, Nieve, Kennaugh & Kiri do the damage his attacks will be all the more effective.

Tone down the SKY fetishism man

 

[staubsauger]

Landa's got a decent uphill kick like Anton based on what we've seen from him so far. Especially this season.

He ain't gonna win next years T-A normally. But he's certainly among the favorites for Basque Country if he peaks for it. Which he's gonna do. Otherwise he ain't gonna ride it prior to Trentino. As it ain't no simple training race for him.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re:

Landa's got a decent uphill kick like Anton based on what we've seen from him so far. Especially this season.

He ain't gonna win next years T-A normally. But he's certainly among the favorites for Basque Country if he peaks for it. Which he's gonna do. Otherwise he ain't gonna ride it prior to Trentino. As it ain't no simple training race for him.

Landa is doing the Giro and thus peaking there, Pais Vasco is not close enough to the Giro to be in great/peak form and it is not far enough to be in peak form let it fall a little and let it rise again. I think he can be good in Pais Vasco but no way will he peak for it.

 

[WheelofGear]

Landa had no problems dropping Contador/Aru in Giro, why should things be different next year? Froome is the only climber who is stronger than him. And Landa has the potential to be even stronger.

I confident that he will be the strongest climber in the Itzulia. It's his home race after all. Like Contador in his prime, he is both a diesel and a explosive climber. His favorite mountains are the brutal ones like Zoncolan and Angliru. A hard mountain time trial is not a problem for him, rather a advantage.

He also has a good chance of winning T-A, but let's see the route first. These stupid short time trials (and team time trials) are ugly and is destroying the race. I rather have one long 50k TT then.

 

[WheelofGear]

And a couple of people in here are already bitching over that Landa is participating in Liege Bastonge Liege. I wouldn't be surprised if he was really good there as well. He said that it was a race that he really loves. An attack on Roche aux Faucons and they'll never see him again.

Sky don't even have to do any work. They can rely on Kwiatkowski for the sprint.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

Landa had no problems dropping Contador/Aru in Giro, why should things be different next year? Froome is the only climber who is stronger than him. And Landa has the potential to be even stronger.

I confident that he will be the strongest climber in the Itzulia. It's his home race after all. Like Contador in his prime, he is both a diesel and a explosive climber. His favorite mountains are the brutal ones like Zoncolan and Angliru. A hard mountain time trial is not a problem for him, rather a advantage.

He also has a good chance of winning T-A, but let's see the route first. These stupid short time trials (and team time trials) are ugly and is destroying the race. I rather have one long 50k TT then.

Well, for sure Landa is the big favorite to win TA then!

Itzulia is a way different race then a Giro. There are no Zoncolan's or Angliru's in it. Guys like Purito, Contador and Froome are better, or at least just as good, as Landa on short steep climbs. And we still don't know how Landa will perform in a classic kind of race, which PV is, with a lot of explosive finals and technical kind of racing. He lacks experience for that, at least as a team leader.

 

[LaFlorecita]

WTF is this Landa-hype? WheelOfGear tone it down, sheesh it's ridiculous

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

And a couple of people in here are already bitching over that Landa is participating in Liege Bastonge Liege. I wouldn't be surprised if he was really good there as well. He said that it was a race that he really loves. An attack on Roche aux Faucons and they'll never see him again.

Sky don't even have to do any work. They can rely on Kwiatkowski for the sprint.

I think you're forgetting the key to staying away on the flat, after breaking away on a climb: being good on the flat. Something which, while he is a fantastic climber, Landa is not.

 

[WheelofGear]

His win on Aia indicates that he is great on short, steep climbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best on them. He is not an one-dimensional rider. He is a climber with both a strong engine and punch. Add Intxausti, Nieve and Henao and you have one of the most brutal trains for the short, steep climbs.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re: Re:

And a couple of people in here are already bitching over that Landa is participating in Liege Bastonge Liege. I wouldn't be surprised if he was really good there as well. He said that it was a race that he really loves. An attack on Roche aux Faucons and they'll never see him again.

Sky don't even have to do any work. They can rely on Kwiatkowski for the sprint.

I think you're forgetting the key to staying away on the flat, after breaking away on a climb: being good on the flat. Something which, while he is a fantastic climber, Landa is not.

It's mostly downhill with only a little flat before Saint Nicholas. If they are looking at each other in the GC group, he has a great chance of cheating them.

 

[Breh]

Re:

WTF is this Landa-hype? WheelOfGear tone it down, sheesh it's ridiculous

He has dropped a very weak Contador. Didn't even win the giro. Unreal hype.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

His win on Aia indicates that he is great on short, steep climbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best on them. He is not an one-dimensional rider. He is a climber with both a strong engine and punch. Add Intxausti, Nieve and Henao and you have one of the most brutal trains for the short, steep climbs.

His win on Aia was from a break. He beat Tim Wellens and Tom Danielson.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

WTF is this Landa-hype? WheelOfGear tone it down, sheesh it's ridiculous

He has dropped a very weak Contador. Didn't even win the giro. Unreal hype.

It comes from 1 or 2 people. It's ridiculous, he had 1 good performance and suddenly he can beat everyone but Froome.

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

His win on Aia indicates that he is great on short, steep climbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best on them. He is not an one-dimensional rider. He is a climber with both a strong engine and punch. Add Intxausti, Nieve and Henao and you have one of the most brutal trains for the short, steep climbs.

He only had to take care of Tim Wellens and Tom Danielson ffs

That's says nothing about his power on short steep climbs. You don't really understand the difference between a relatively easy flat stage with a steep climb at the end, and a really hard ridden, mountain stage which ends with a steep climb/slope.

In the 2nd scenario, he can drop everyone. Because it has nothing to do anymore with explosiveness, but with true power and a big engine.

In the first scenario, he still will get beaten by guys like Purito, Bala, Dan Martin and Vuillermoz. Because in that case, it's all about explosive power.

And it's useluss to have a train for short steep climbs. You wan't a train for Mirador de Ezaro? You only have to have a super strong explosive domestique, like Purito had for many years in the person of Moreno.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

His win on Aia indicates that he is great on short, steep climbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best on them. He is not an one-dimensional rider. He is a climber with both a strong engine and punch. Add Intxausti, Nieve and Henao and you have one of the most brutal trains for the short, steep climbs.

His win on Aia was from a break. He beat Tim Wellens and Tom Danielson.

In Wellens' defence he is actually a pretty good puncheur. OTOH he seems to fail to get into form until August.

 

[WheelofGear]

Re: Re:

His win on Aia indicates that he is great on short, steep climbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best on them. He is not an one-dimensional rider. He is a climber with both a strong engine and punch. Add Intxausti, Nieve and Henao and you have one of the most brutal trains for the short, steep climbs.

His win on Aia was from a break. He beat Tim Wellens and Tom Danielson.

Tim Wellens isn't exactly bad on such terrain. It's his speciality.

 

[Arredondo]

Re: Re:

His win on Aia indicates that he is great on short, steep climbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best on them. He is not an one-dimensional rider. He is a climber with both a strong engine and punch. Add Intxausti, Nieve and Henao and you have one of the most brutal trains for the short, steep climbs.

His win on Aia was from a break. He beat Tim Wellens and Tom Danielson.

Tim Wellens isn't exactly bad on such terrain. It's his speciality.

No he's not. He always fails on steep climbs like Huy, Aia or Ezaro.

 

[pink_jersey]

Re:

His win on Aia indicates that he is great on short, steep climbs.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was the best on them. He is not an one-dimensional rider. He is a climber with both a strong engine and punch. Add Intxausti, Nieve and Henao and you have one of the most brutal trains for the short, steep climbs.

Henao will drop Landa 9 out of 10 times on climbs like Aia...